Jason Drew is co-founder of AgriProtein Technologies, a Cape Town, South Africa-based company founded in 2008 that is farming flies to replace fishmeal on chicken and fish farms, and in the process, trying to prevent further plundering of ocean resources.
SeafoodSource: You have predicted you will soon have 8.5 billion head of Hermetia Illucens on site at the factory farm in Cape Town, 22 tons of Black Soldier Fly larvae destined for chicken farms and aquaculture plants. What percentage will go to aquaculture plants?
Drew: We sell a third of our product to fish farmers, a third to chicken farms and a third to the pet food industries. The value of fishmeal with which we compete is circa USD 1,500 per ton, while our Magmeal is valued at USD 1,300 per ton. We produce 22 tons of larvae which we dry and separate into 7.5 tons of MagMeal and 3.5 tons of MagOil. The aquaculture farms use mostly Magmeal, and some Magoil depending on their formulations.
SeafoodSource: The article mentioned branches are in the works in North and South America and Europe. Vantomme of the FAO said farming insects “appears to be one of the most interesting protein alternatives for getting food on the table of a growing population – the only thing missing is scale in the millions of tons per year.” Do you anticipate being able to reach that scale, and if so, how and when?
Drew: Initial licensees have been agreed in Australia, Asia, Europe, USA and Chile. Environmental Impact Assessments take up to 24 months per site but we hope to break ground on our first new plants in late 2016 or early 2017. Our growth strategy is to partly own and build factories and have licensed factories with partners. By 2020 we project AgriProtein and its affiliates will be producing in excess of 35,000 tons of Magmeal a year.
SeafoodSource: You’re not the only one doing fishmeal alternatives – what sets AgriProtein apart from competitors in this arena? What could you learn from your competitors, or they from you?
Drew: It is a young and emerging industry and we all have a lot to do to help save our seas and feed a growing population. AgriProtein has some great technology, a well funded R&D program as well as a head start in what is an exciting marketplace.
SeafoodSource: What’s the biggest challenge in terms of getting magmeal widely accepted as a fishmeal alternative? What kind of hurdles do you have to surmount?
Drew: There are two elements - first the science behind the nutrition and then customer acceptance. In terms of the science, we’ve done extensive independent trials in a number of animals and species. As for customer acceptance, most people understand that many farmed fish in the wild would naturally eat flies and fly larvae. Customer trials help to reinforce the value of our product.
SeafoodSource: How are you gauging your success?
Drew: We are only starting but we’ve sold all our output and demand is considerably in excess of supply. There is a lot of interest from existing aquaculture plants and from new planned facilities. Over the coming decade we believe that the aquaculture markets will drive their sustainability though the use of larvae as a protein source.
SeafoodSource: Given the opportunity to address a room filled with seafood industry leaders such as yourself, what is the one nugget of wisdom you would offer them as your closing remark?
Drew: 15 years from today we will consider it normal to recycle our waste nutrients using insect based technologies. It is sustainable, natural and part of all our futures.
